1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates a tubule assembly for thermally-isolating wall anchors for securement within the inner wythe of a cavity wall and for connection to veneer ties that comprise positive interlocking components of an anchoring system. The assembly has application to seismic-resistant structures and to cavity walls having special requirements. The latter include high-strength requirements for both insulated and non-insulated cavities, namely, a structural performance characteristic capable of withstanding a 100 lbf, in both tension and compression.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the late 1980's, surface-mounted wall anchors were developed by Hohmann & Barnard, Inc., a MiTEK-Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, and patented under U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,518. The invention was commercialized under trademarks DW-10®, DW-10-X®, and DW-10-HS®. These widely accepted building specialty products were designed primarily for dry-wall construction, but were also used with masonry backup walls. For seismic applications, it was common practice to use these wall anchors as part of the DW-10® Seismiclip® interlock system which added a Byna-Tie® wire formative, a Seismiclip® snap-in device—described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,319 ('319), and a continuous wire reinforcement.
In an insulated dry wall application, the surface-mounted wall anchor of the above-described system has pronged legs that pierce the insulation and the wallboard and rest against the metal stud to provide mechanical stability in a four-point landing arrangement. The vertical slot of the wall anchor enables the mason to have the wire tie adjustably positioned along a pathway of up to 3.625-inch (max.). The interlock system served well and received high scores in testing and engineering evaluations which examined effects of various forces, particularly lateral forces, upon brick veneer masonry construction. However, under certain conditions, the system did not sufficiently maintain the integrity of the insulation. Also, upon the promulgation of more rigorous specifications by which tension and compression characteristics were raised, a different structure—such as one of those described in detail below—was required.
The engineering evaluations further described the advantages of having a continuous wire embedded in the mortar joint of anchored veneer wythes. The seismic aspects of these investigations were reported in the inventor's '319 patent. Besides earthquake protection, the failure of several high-rise buildings to withstand wind and other lateral forces resulted in the incorporation of a continuous wire reinforcement requirement in the Uniform Building Code provisions. The use of a continuous wire in masonry veneer walls has also been found to provide protection against problems arising from thermal expansion and contraction and to improve the uniformity of the distribution of lateral forces in the structure.
Shortly after the introduction of the pronged wall anchor, a seismic veneer anchor, which incorporated an L-shaped backplate, was introduced. This was formed from either 12- or 14-gauge sheetmetal and provided horizontally disposed openings in the arms thereof for pintle legs of the veneer anchor. In general, the pintle-receiving sheetmetal version of the Seismiclip® interlock system served well, but in addition to the insulation integrity problem, installations were hampered by mortar buildup interfering with pintle leg insertion.
In the 1980's, an anchor for masonry veneer walls was developed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,069 by Reinwall et al., which patent is an improvement of the masonry veneer anchor of Lopez, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,984. Here the anchors are keyed to elements that are installed using power-rotated drivers to deposit a mounting stud in a cementitious or masonry backup wall. Fittings are then attached to the stud which include an elongated eye and a wire tie therethrough for disposition in a bed joint of the outer wythe. It is instructive to note that pin-point loading—that is forces concentrated at substantially a single point—developed from this design configuration. This resulted, upon experiencing lateral forces over time, in the loosening of the stud.
Exemplary of the public sector building specification is that of the Energy Code Requirement, Boston, Mass. (see Chapter 13 of 780 CMR, Seventh Edition). This Code sets forth insulation R-values well in excess of prior editions and evokes an engineering response opting for thicker insulation and correspondingly larger cavities. Here, the emphasis is upon creating a building envelope that is designed and constructed with a continuous air barrier to control air leakage into or out of conditioned space adjacent the inner wythe.
As insulation became thicker, the tearing of insulation during installation of the pronged DW-10X® wall anchor, see supra, became more prevalent. This occurred as the installer would fully insert one side of the wall anchor before seating the other side. The tearing would occur at two times, namely, during the arcuate path of the insertion of the second leg and separately upon installation of the attaching hardware. The gapping caused in the insulation permitted air and moisture to infiltrate through the insulation along the pathway formed by the tear. While the gapping was largely resolved by placing a self-sealing, dual-barrier polymeric membrane at the site of the legs and the mounting hardware, with increasing thickness in insulation, this patchwork became less desirable. The improvements hereinbelow in surface mounted wall anchors look toward greater insulation integrity and less reliance on a patch.
Another prior art development occurred shortly after that of Reinwall/Lopez when Hatzinikolas and Pacholok of Fero Holding Ltd. introduced their sheetmetal masonry connector for a cavity wall. This device is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,392,581 and 4,869,043. Here a sheetmetal plate connects to the side of a dry wall column and protrudes through the insulation into the cavity. A wire tie is threaded through a slot in the leading edge of the plate capturing an insulative plate thereunder and extending into a bed joint of the veneer. The underlying sheetmetal plate is highly thermally conductive, and the '581 patent describes lowering the thermal conductivity by foraminously structuring the plate. However, as there is no thermal break, a concomitant loss of the insulative integrity results.
Focus on the thermal characteristics of cavity wall construction is important to ensuring minimized heat transfer through the walls, both for comfort and for energy efficiency of heating and air conditioning. When the exterior is cold relative to the interior of a heated structure, heat from the interior should be prevented from passing through to the outside. Similarly, when the exterior is hot relative to the interior of an air conditioned structure, heat from the exterior should be prevented from passing through to the interior. Providing a seal at the insertion points of the mounting hardware assists in controlling heat transfer.
In recent building codes for masonry structures, a trend away from eye and pintle structures is seen in that the newer codes require adjustable anchors be detailed to prevent disengagement. This has led to anchoring systems in which the open end of the veneer tie is embedded in the corresponding bed joint of the veneer precluding disengagement by vertical displacement.
Another application for high-span anchoring systems is in the evolving technology of self-cooling buildings. Here, the cavity wall serves additionally as a plenum for delivering air from one area to another. While this technology has not seen wide application in the United States, the ability to size cavities to match air moving requirements for naturally ventilated buildings enable the architectural engineer to now consider cavity walls when designing structures in this environmentally favorable form.
In the past, the use of wire formatives have been limited by the mortar layer thicknesses which, in turn are dictated either by the new building specifications or by pre-existing conditions, e.g. matching during renovations or additions in the existing mortar layer thickness. While arguments have been made for increasing the number of the fine-wire anchors per unit area of the facing layer, architects and architectural engineers have favored wire formative anchors of sturdier wire. On the other hand, contractors find that heavy wire anchors, with diameters approaching the mortar layer height specification, frequently result in misalignment. This led to the low-profile wall anchors of the inventors as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,283. However, the above-described technology did not address the adaption thereof to surface mounted devices or stud-type devices. Nor does it address the need to thermally-isolate the wall anchor.
In the course of preparing this Application, several patents, became known to the inventors hereof and are acknowledged hereby:
Pat.InventorIssue Date2,058,148M. W. HardOct. 20, 19362,966,705W. MasseyJan. 03, 19613,377,764B. StorchApr. 16, 19684,021,990SchwalbergMay 10, 19774,305,239GeraghtyDec. 15, 19814,373,314AllanFeb. 15, 19834,438,611BryantMar. 27, 19844,473,984LopezOct. 02, 19844,598,518HohmannJul. 08, 19864,869,038CataniSep. 26, 19894,875,319HohmannOct. 24, 19895,063,722HohmannNov. 12, 19915,392,581Hatzinikolas et al.Feb. 28, 19955,408,798HohmannApr. 25, 19955,456,052Anderson et al.Oct. 10, 19955,816,008HohmannOct. 06, 19986,209,281RiceApr. 03, 20016,279,283Hohmann et al.Aug. 28, 20017,415,803BronnerAug. 26, 20087,562,506Hohmann, Jr.Jul. 21, 20097,845,137Hohmann, Jr.Dec. 07, 2010Patent App.InventorPublication Date2010/0037552BronnerFeb. 18, 2010Foreign Patent Documents279209CH52/714Mar. 01, 19522069024GB52/714Aug. 19, 1981
It is noted that with some exceptions these devices are generally descriptive of wire-to-wire anchors and wall ties and have various cooperative functional relationships with straight wire runs embedded in the inner and/or outer wythe.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,764—D. Storch—Issued Apr. 16, 1968
Discloses a bent wire, tie-type anchor for embedment in a facing exterior wythe engaging with a loop attached to a straight wire run in a backup interior wythe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,990—B. J. Schwalberg—Issued May 10, 1977
Discloses a dry wall construction system for anchoring a facing veneer to wallboard/metal stud construction with a pronged sheetmetal anchor. Like Storch '764, the wall tie is embedded in the exterior wythe and is not attached to a straight wire run.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,314—J. A. Allan—Issued Feb. 15, 1983
Discloses a vertical angle iron with one leg adapted for attachment to a stud; and the other having elongated slots to accommodate wall ties. Insulation is applied between projecting vertical legs of adjacent angle irons with slots being spaced away from the stud to avoid the insulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,984—Lopez—Issued Oct. 2, 1984
Discloses a curtain-wall masonry anchor system wherein a wall tie is attached to the inner wythe by a self-tapping screw to a metal stud and to the outer wythe by embedment in a corresponding bed joint. The stud is applied through a hole cut into the insulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,038—M. J. Catani—Issued Sep. 26, 1989
Discloses a veneer wall anchor system having in the interior wythe a truss-type anchor, similar to Hala et al. '226, supra, but with horizontal sheetmetal extensions. The extensions are interlocked with bent wire pintle-type wall ties that are embedded within the exterior wythe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,319—R. Hohmann—Issued Oct. 24, 1989
Discloses a seismic construction system for anchoring a facing veneer to wallboard/metal stud construction with a pronged sheetmetal anchor. The wall tie is distinguished over that of Schwalberg '990 and is clipped onto a straight wire run.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,581—Hatzinikolas et al. —Issued Feb. 28, 1995
Discloses a cavity wall anchor having a conventional tie wire for mounting in the brick veneer and an L-shaped sheetmetal bracket for mounting vertically between side-by-side blocks and horizontally atop a course of blocks. The bracket has a slit which is vertically disposed and protrudes into the cavity. The slit provides for a vertically adjustable anchor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,798—Hohmann—Issued Apr. 25, 1995
Discloses a seismic construction system for a cavity wall having a masonry anchor, a wall tie, and a facing anchor. Sealed eye wires extend into the cavity and wire wall ties are threaded therethrough with the open ends thereof embedded with a Hohmann '319 (see supra) clip in the mortar layer of the brick veneer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,052—Anderson et al. —Issued Oct. 10, 1995
Discloses a two-part masonry brick tie, the first part being designed to be installed in the inner wythe and then, later when the brick veneer is erected to be interconnected by the second part. Both parts are constructed from sheetmetal and are arranged on substantially the same horizontal plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,008—Hohmann—Issued Oct. 15, 1998
Discloses a brick veneer anchor primarily for use with a cavity wall with a drywall inner wythe. The device combines an L-shaped plate for mounting on the metal stud of the drywall and extending into the cavity with a T-head bent stay. After interengagement with the L-shaped plate the free end of the bent stay is embedded in the corresponding bed joint of the veneer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,281—Rice—Issued Apr. 3, 2001
Discloses a masonry anchor having a conventional tie wire for mounting in the brick veneer and sheetmetal bracket for mounting on the metal-stud-supported drywall. The bracket has a slit which is vertically disposed when the bracket is mounted on the metal stud and, in application, protrudes through the drywall into the cavity. The slit provides for a vertically adjustable anchor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,283—Hohmann et al. —Issued Aug. 28, 2001
Discloses a low-profile wall tie primarily for use in renovation construction where in order to match existing mortar height in the facing wythe a compressed wall tie is embedded in the bed joint of the brick veneer.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,803—Bronner—Issued Aug. 26, 2008
Discloses a wing nut wall anchoring system for use with a two legged wire tie. The wing nut is rotatable in all directions to allow angular adjustment of the wire tie.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,506—Hohmann, Jr. —Issued Jul. 21, 2009
Discloses a notched surface-mounted wall anchor and anchoring system for use with various wire formative veneer ties. The notches, upon surface mounting of the anchor, form small wells which entrain fluids and inhibit entry of same into the wallboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,845,137—Hohmann, Jr. —Issued Dec. 7, 2010
Discloses a folded wall anchor and anchoring system for use with various wire formative veneer ties. The folded wall anchor enables sheathing of the hardware and sealing of the insertion points.
U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0037552—Bronner—Filed Jun. 1, 2009
Discloses a side-mounted anchoring system for veneer wall tie connection. The system transfers horizontal loads between a backup wall and a veneer wall.
None of the above provide a high-strength, surface-mounted wall anchor utilizing the thermally-isolated tubule assembly of this invention. The tubules and fasteners of the present invention provide wall anchors with thermally-isolated shaftways, which shaftways are in turn sealed to prevent fluids from flowing through or into the inner wythe. The tubule assembly is thermally-isolating and self-sealing through the use of non-conductive washers affixed to the tubule cylinder and the fastener. The tubule assembly is modifiable for use on various style wall anchors allowing for interconnection with veneer ties in varied cavity wall structures.
As will become clear in reviewing the disclosure which follows, the cavity wall structures benefit from the recent developments described herein that lead to solving the problems of insulation integrity, thermally conductive anchoring systems, and of high-span applications.